Pressure cooker cover support



Jan. 8, 1952 M. J. ZIMMER PRESSURE COOKER COVER SUPPORT :Filed Oct. 29 1947 INVEN.TOR. Mymn/JZmmez BY Patented Jan. 8, 1952 PRESSURE COOKER COVER SUPPORT Myron J. Zimmer, Wood Dale, Ill., assignor to Ekco Products Company, Chicago, 111., a'corporation of Illinois Application October 29, 1947, Serial No. 782,711

2 Claims. (Cl. 22025) The invention relates generally to pressure cookers and more particularly to the manner of. supporting the cover thereof.

One type of pressure cooker adapted for home use comprises a receptacle having an elliptical opening, with the cover adapted to be inserted within the receptacle and to engage the underside of thevmargin of the elliptical opening for sealing the receptacle. To remove the cover for access to the receptacle, the former is rotated 90 out of alignment with the opening and then tilted for withdrawal upwardly through the opening. When the cover is in place, it is supported from a bridge member spanning the opening in the receptacle and seated at its ends on the receptacle or on the handles thereof. The bridge member is held against rotation, and a knob may be provided for rotating the cover, the knob being mounted on the bridge member and being connected to the cover by means such as a stem. In this type of construction, means operable by the knob, or in some instances a spring, may be employed for raising the cover into engagement with the underside of the margin of the opening when the opening and cover are aligned.

With a cover structure of this type, the cover need be held in engagement with the margin of the opening only sufiiciently to permit the pressure to start building up within the receptacle.

The pressure itself thereafter holds the cover in sealing engagement with the margin. However, it has been found that, unless the cover is in fairly true axial alignment with the opening, or in other words, in coplanar relation with the margin thereof, the cover may not engage the margin at all points and leakage of pressure occurs so that the building up of pressure does not occur. Such lack of axial alignment of the cover and opening may occur in manufacturing or may result from misuse. Thus, the cover might have a slight warp, or it might not be secured to the stem in true axial alignment, or the stem might be held slightly out of axial alignment with the opening under the pressure of the spring. Any of these difficulties might cause the cover to engage the margin of the opening only through a portion of its periphery, leaving an unsealed portion through which steam could escape. Pressure would, therefore, not be attained within the receptacle.

The general object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a cover support for a pressure cooker of the foregoing type, which permits the cover to engage the margin of the receptacle opening in substantially true coaxial alignment or coplanar engagement, so that a, sealing relation of the cover with the margin is established.

Another object is to provide a cover support which permits the cover to be self-adjusting to the margin of the receptacle opening to efiect a seal therewith so that pressure may be built up within the receptacle.

A further object is to provide a cover support having the foregoing features and which may be readily manufactured without requiring a high degree of accuracy in making the parts or assembling. them.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which: i

Figure l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a pressure cooker having a cover support embodying the features of the invention, the figure showing the cover in its closed position.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

- In pressure cookers of the above type employing a knob for rotating the cover into and out of alignment with the receptacle opening and having a spring for raising the cover when taken into aligned position, the knob is manually depressed to compress the spring when it is desired to lower the cover and turn it out of alignment, In this type of construction, a lock is employed for holding the cover depressed when out of, alignment with the opening, so that the cover and bridge member may be more easily manipulated. The spring for raising the cover,

in this type of construction, should not be too stifi because a stiff spring makes it difficult for the user to depress the cover. On the other hand, a stiif spring is desirable in moving the cover upwardly in order to force the cover into proper engagement with the margin of the opening in the receptacle.

In some construction, the knob for turning the cover may be released from the cover when the latter is turned to its aligned position, and, by further turning movement, effect a slight upward movement of the cover in addition to that required to raise it from its lower position to a position where it contacts the margin. Such further raising of the cover insures tight engagement thereof with the margin of the receptacle opening and thus definitely establishes a seal there- "between. The mechanism for effecting such operation, however, is usually somewhat complicatv.

ed and necessarily increases the cost of manufacture.

The present invention provides a structure which permits the cover to readily engage the margin of the opening throughout the entire circumference without the necessity of applying manipulated by the user in moving the coverout of contact with the margin of the opening. "In the case of the construction"where"-thekriob has an extra turning nqyerr i en t to deiirrite- 1y bring the cover upjj'irito l' ment with the margin of th'ofie g,

structure insures proper contact of the cover with the margin. In otli'er' ifiordsftherprsent structure permits the cover to adjust itseli into axial alignment with the opening in"'the redepthat thep ver'and margin of the opening fisfige'l "with*as"1ip-'- providing a peripheral channel in which m reiwit q eei i w a "'Sp'ainning membei 2 Whig 5 h periphery a'iic, "the U vvitHari emerges-wrath 24 havingan akially dsiti'onecfthradedmole" 25 'in itsrupper" "end.

" :"Mou'ntedonthe stem. is afihollow "k1i0b52 @secured *theretb'by'aiscrevii 7 "extending into f'thevthreaded ;;E holezzfi. The 1111013 26- 15. preferabl made gi heatinsulating material so that it rnay be readily 4 I move the cover into engagement at its periphery with the margin of the opening l3 in the receptacle. To lower the cover out of contact with the margin of the opening the knob 26 may be de- 5 pressed against the pressure of the spring 33. To

facilitate manipulation of the cover, the cupshaped member; 3| and the lineriil are provided fie lcfilfir ig po'fticfnsfiiidicated-jat 34, for "holdingthcpver in iiiepressed position, such o interlocking portions forming no part of the present invention but being fully disclosed in my a-lgove mentipned copending application.

33 has to be compressed manuovvn on the knob 26 in order to er'jiout of engagement with the pening l3, it is desirable that the :-spring-33 be-si1ch ithat it does not require a large jgrce to compress it to the extent necessary for 'loti 'ring the cover. However, should the cover 20 be slightly vvarped or should it be out of true airialaliglnment w-ith the stemw S 'o'r' out "o'f axial alignment with the opehing I'3"S6t1 l3;t'1t-id9;nted slightly relativeto' sifch opening,eahwillnot f b'eestablished"between the gasket l l on *the 'over n'd theflan'ge' "ITbfthe receptacles If the spring 33 is light nouglr to permit easy manipulation,

described above, it does notexerfi su'fiieient '"force toporreerslight misalignnrents of theeover 0'" stem'flfi andthe cover' isitherefore: such that the cover; 'tvhen" dreiwn'fupwardly," even under a "relatively =light force;willi'fdjustiitselfrelative tothe flange-l2ofithe'roeptaele andiwill tendetolcon- -""tact'sfih? 'flange throughout-"the entire 'cireum- 5 Terence ofth'e opening} %In "the present' instance, the connectionbetween-*tli stem 23-and'thecover H isof'the iiature of a universaPj-ointwhiclf perrnits 'the cover Vto"ti1t slightly in 'any direction -':relativeftcrthe'fstemflil. Thusrwhen the cover is 4 f'drawn 'upwardly' by*the spring"33,-it 'will be moved ;-"into coplanarrelatio'ri with-"the -flange' l 2 floy-the "force' of 'the spring'and the permisSibIetiIting movement of' the 'cove'rf sorthat -atight-sealing engagen ient' between the gasket Wandtheflange 5 I2 is therebyefiectedr such engagement issuincient to startfthe building-up of 'pressure when heat'isappliedtotherreceptacle.

"-To provide"; such a t'miversal "connection; the hover H is *preferably" depressed as at 40* in its centrarpm'tionf rmountedfinthe depression 49 is "-"astein-receiving member: indicated; generally at "'4 l, "and ieompris'ing a"fiang"'42-seated in the de- 7. pression flfl "and securedto the cover as by-weld ing. The'wstem rceiving"finembefi-aiso-"has a m 'tubulari'portionfih providinga: soeket 14 in which thelowerendcof the stem 23" loosely fits. To connectthe stein '2 3 toizthememberl i a pivotal con- "nect'ion is provided" comprising; in -the' presentini"stance atpirr fihigi'dly secured in theilower' end of 13118" stem '23" in diametrjieal positionfiherein and f ""ext'er'rdingat both ends-beyond therstems The tubuiar portion i3rof-thg member H isprovided f with-a pair'oftliametricahy alignedap ertureg d8 "whichlooselyreceivetheends of-the pin -45.

The 'cover i l"- is thus permitted 'to' tilt slightly relative to theistem'fi in any di'rectionbecause of "rthdb'osefit'of tlie stem'zwitliin the tubular -porinthemfrrtuiesfif To hold. the'--stem* and cover normally aligned, a coil spring 4! may be'mounted -"W.ithin; thmtubulanportien 4310 bear atone end i'againstthe'depressed portion of-th e;coyer H and ,;;:;at the ther ns aegi t h l r-l 0 h t .r"-: -;sn n Minu ten sgt zi ms: he t w-'upwardlywithin.r he tubular-i g on 43 'to' hold the stem and cover in alignment. However, when the gasket I! at the periphery of the cover engages the flange I2 at any point, the cover may tilt freely to the extent necessary to bring it into coplanar relation with theflange [2. The cover is thus enabled to effect a tight engagement with the flange, sufficient to prevent release of steam so that pressure will build up within the receptacle. The pressure itself, of course, after it is once established, will tend to hold the cover in proper engagement with the flange of the receptacle.

I claim:

1. In a pressure cooker comprising a receptacle having an elliptical top opening and a cover, with the cover engageable with the undersid of the margin of said opening and movable therethrough when tilted and rotated 90 out of alignment with said opening, the combination of a bridge member adapted to be seated at its ends on the receptacle over said opening and to be held against rotation relative thereto when so seaed, a coversupporting stem for rotating the cover and moving it vertically, said stem extending through said bridge member for rotation and axial movement therein, means mounted on said bridge member and connected to said stem for rotating the cover into and out of alignment with said opening and for raising and lowering the cover into and out of engagement with th margin thereof including a manually rotatable knob positioned centrally over said bridge member and coaxial with said stem, a universal connection between said cover and said stem to permit the cover to tilt relative to the stem into coplanar relation with the margin of said opening when the cover is raised by said means into engagement with the margin, and a spring interposed between said cover and said stem and tending to hold said cover coaxial with said stem.

2. In a pressure cooker comprising a receptacle having an elliptical top opening and a cover, with the cover engageable with the underside of the margin of said opening and movable therethrough when tilted and rotated 90 out of align- 4 ment with said opening, the combination of a bridge member adapted to be seated at its ends on 6 the receptacle over said opening and to b held against rotation relative thereto when so seated, a cover-supporting stem for rotating the cover and moving it vertically, said stem extending through said bridge member for rotation and axial movement therein, means mounted on said bridge member and connected to said stem for rotating the cover into and out of alignment with said opening and for raising and lowering the cover into and out of engagement with the margin thereof including a manually rotatable knob positioned centrally over said bridge member and coaxial with said stem, and a universal connection between said cover and said stem comprising a socket member rigid with the cover and having an upstanding tubular portion loosely receiving the lower end of said stem, said tubular portion having a pair of diametrically opposite holes, a pin extending through said stem and loosely received at its ends in said holes to permit the cover to tilt to a limited extent relative to the stem, and a spring in said socket member interposed between said cover and said stem and tending to hold them in axial alignment.

MYRON J. ZIMMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

